


A letter in the mail

by WhyYesIamBlonde



Series: Slavery Universe [5]
Category: The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blackmail, Child Abuse, M/M, Past Sexual Abuse, Poor Clint, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-09
Updated: 2013-04-09
Packaged: 2017-12-08 00:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/755026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhyYesIamBlonde/pseuds/WhyYesIamBlonde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things are going great until a series of letters with disturbing pictures start showing up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A letter in the mail

**Author's Note:**

> Can be read alone or as part of my slavery universe.   
> Stupid plot bunny made me write this before I even finished my first story in the series.
> 
> WARNING: This story contains spoilers for my other stories.

Nothing had happened for a while. Oh, there were Doom Bots and the occasional terrorist threat but nothing that took more than a day to neutralize. After the usual post op meeting, the Avengers were usually home at a decent hour to eat and relax before bed. Clint was sad that Coulson was sent to handle a long term mission but got the occasional video call that seemed to make things better. Overall, the group was enjoying true stability in their lives for what was the first time for most of them. Of course it couldn’t last.

Steve Rogers got the first letter. It didn’t come in with the usual fan mail that a few low ranking SHIELD agents were usually used to sort through for some minor punishment or another. No. This came from a company that they would later find does not exist to his personal PO Box. He opened it to find nothing but a picture inside. A very disturbing picture of a young teenager being whipped in someone’s basement. Steve actually yelled in shock and dropped the picture onto the floor. The others came running into the living room where he was opening his mail. They all showed disgust at the picture. Clint picked up the picture and threw it into the fire place. He turned on the gas and watched the picture burn.

About a month later Bruce got a letter from the same fake company. He didn’t open it. He took it directly to Tony who scanned it for anything that might lead to discovering who was sending it but nothing appeared. It was normal paper with no prints being mailed from within New York City. When they did open the envelope, it showed the same boy being entered from behind by a man three times his age. The face was still obscured but a patchwork of scars could be clearly seen on his side. Steve thought that there was something familiar about the scars but he couldn’t place it. Natasha and Clint were both away on a mission for SHIELD at the time and the picture was locked away.

Tony received the letter the next month. The boy’s face was being ridden by a middle aged woman who was clawing his chest. The scars on the side of his body that faced the camera matched the ones from the previous picture. This time a letter fell out. Tony called the Avengers to assemble in the situation room (the dining room). When everyone was together he threw the typed letter onto the table. 

Dearest Avengers,

So far you have seen that I have many embarrassing photos of this young man. I  
have many more that include his face. If you want, I will be more than happy to  
send them to the various news agencies throughout the globe. I’m sure that more  
than one will be happy to know that the Avengers did nothing to stop his shame  
from becoming public. Of course, if you wish to keep this young man’s secret then  
I need you to wire One Million Dollars to the account below. 

The rest of the letter was information about sending money to a bank account in the Caribbean. Tony had already hacked into the banks database. The account was linked to the same dummy corporation and there was no transactions to trace that might lead to the owners. The only way to catch this pedophile was to actually transfer the money and see where it went.

The two remaining pictures were also on the table. Natasha picked one up and studied it. She slammed it down and growled. She reached over and grabbed Clint who looked like he was trying to shrink into his chair. She knocked him onto the ground and pinned his arms so that she could lift his shirt. There on his side were scars that were identical to the boy in the picture. A few more overlapped them but it was obvious who the identity of the young man was.

“How long?” she asked as she helped him back up. The others in too much shock to react.

Clint shrugged before saying, “from 13 to 18 so I guess five years.”

Thor was the next to speak, “How can you allow such a thing to occur to you?”

Clint didn’t meet his eyes. “That's what my owners wanted of me.”

“Owners.” repeated Thor. “I did not know that you used to be a slave.”

Steve actually was the one to explain. “You know how technically I belong to Stark Industries?”

“Yes,” Thor replied slowly. “You cannot be freed because the army has some kind of claim on you. Though I don't see why you can’t just fight your way free of them. I would help you out.”

Bruce was quick to reply to that. “You can’t fight the entire army. I’ve tried. And Steve does not want them to collect on his debt. If Pepper is kind enough to let Steve have virtual freedom, than he is best a property of Stark Industries CEO instead of being freed from one life debt to be taken by another. Most slaves aren’t so lucky.” Bruce gave Clint a knowing look.

“Look, slavery isn’t an every day occurrence,” Tony said. “in order to become a slave you either have to have committed three major crimes, murdered, or have been in so much debt that it would take multiple lifetimes to pay them off like Cap here. Indentured servants usually have a contract of a couple of years where almost every penny goes to pay off their debts but they have an end date to look forward to and strict laws on how they can be used. Slaves don’t get such protection. Sure, their children are free but they are stuck in whatever situation their owner wishes of them.”

“How did you get into the system?” asked Bruce carefully.

“You forgot the fourth way,” said Clint who was looking hard at a spot on the wall. “Be a drain on society. Orphans who aren’t adoptable due to previous trauma or abuse are sold into the slave trade to keep costs down. We weren’t given a contract to fulfill. Just a collar and a set of orders. A good tenth of the slaves currently in this country did nothing wrong.”

“How can this be legal?” asked Steve in shock.

“Who do you think my best customers were?” exclaimed Clint. He pointed to the woman in the picture. Sure enough, when examined she looked an awful lot like the Californian Senator who recently stepped down from her post amid accusations of selling her votes. “Otherwise, how many young boys and girls would be available for them to play with?”

“So,” said Tony bringing them back on to the issue at hand. “I say we pay this ransom and then see where the money goes.”

Clint shook his head and let out a sob before looking up. “Coulson doesn't have that much money. I can’t cost him his life savings. Not again. I am working so hard to not fuck this up. How can I...”

Tony cut him off. “Who said anything about Coulson? This is an Avenger problem. I’ll pay the ransom. I’ve already left a little worm to let me know when any transactions occur within that account. We’ll just sit back and let the money lead us to the bad guy.”

Acting like that was the last word, Tony stood up and left the room so that he could call Pepper to help him with the money transfer. Natasha, Thor and Steve left to the gym to spar and get rid of their frustration with a good workout. Bruce went into the kitchen and made some tea. He returned to the dining room with two mugs. Clint had not moved.

“Here,” Bruce said, handing the archer a mug. “It might make you feel better. If not, it at least gives your hands something to hold.”

Clint smirked at the other man. He accepted the drink and took a slow sip. Bruce gave him a few more moments of silence before disrupting it with his question. “So... Coulson.”

“Yeah. What about him?”

“He is your current owner?”

“Yep,” sighed Clint into his drink. “He used up everything he had saved and went into considerable debt to purchase me. Every paycheck I earn goes right into his account. I tried to work extra jobs to pay off the money he owes faster but he insisted that I stop and focus on what we have instead of what I was costing him.”

“Isn’t SHIELD in the habit of freeing their slaves after so many years of good service?” Bruce asked confused.

“I..Uh. They didn’t...” Clint stopped to breathe for a moment and collected his thoughts. “They didn’t teach me how to be an assassin. I was taught by Trick-Shot in the circus. By the time they bought my contract, I had already earned a ‘No Freedom’ stamp on my government registration. I have to belong to someone, have someone to answer to or I am considered a fugitive. I could be shot on sight without any repercussions to the shooter.” 

Both men fidgeted uneasy for a moment before Bruce spoke, “If Tony hadn’t bought my contract. If he hadn’t freed me. I would be back in their research labs. I am not going to pretend I know what you are going through. Just know that I will listen if you ever need to talk.”

“Thanks,” Clint said and it surprised him a bit to feel that he meant it. He had never been able to talk to the SHIELD head shrinks about his past but having someone he could trust might help him someday. The archer pulled himself together and went to his room to call Coulson.

It took a few hours for the money transfer to go through. At first, nothing happened. Tony got antsy and paced about the room as he instructed JARVIS to check the account for activity for the ninth time in twenty minutes. Finally he calmed down enough to fix some of the dents in his older suits in case they were ever needed. 

It was almost a relief when the group was called to defend the city against Dooms latest attempt at killer robots. This time they were in the shape of llamas for no reason that any of the Avengers could fathom. It was in the middle of the meeting after the fight that Tony's cell phone went off so that JARVIS could announce activity in the black mailer’s bank account. As he got up to leave, so did the rest of the team. Sitwell looked at the group curiously but seemed to take the hint from Natasha’s glare that the meeting was over and let them go without protest.

As Clint stepped into the hallway he was startled by a hand on his shoulder. He was pulled back and pushed against the far wall. Coulson leaned into him and kissed any protest away before letting the assassin go. 

“You know, one of these days I won’t realize it is you and fight back.” laughed Clint.  
“I thought you were in Norway?”

Coulson smiled as he continued to pin his lover to the wall. “Australia. That’s why it took so long to get here. It turns out that the team can survive without me so I decided to come home.”

“Ah. And this has nothing to do with the little problem I told you we have covered?”

“Nope. Just good timing.” lied Coulson. Clint always knew when he lied but since Coulson rarely made an attempt at hiding it, he wasn’t bothered. They spent a second in each other’s arms after months of separation before putting enough space between them to look like nothing but co-workers to any lower level agents that walked by. 

The Avengers assembled in the situation (dining) room again as Tony tapped on his pad. They tried to be patient as the genius tracked the money from bank account to bank account. It seemed that the money eventually landed right back in New York at a local Bank of America. Coulson called SHIELD and informed them of an op that needed to be created and the Avengers left quickly to the bank.

They didn't want to lose the black mailer so they weren’t gentle when they entered the bank. They simply showed up at the front door and allowed Clint to enter first. They figured that it was someone who knew him that would have been able to take every one of those pictures. Clint took one look around and started in on a man about fifteen years older than him. He was wearing just jeans and a white t-shirt over his sandals. A scarf was tied around his neck. He took one look at Clint and ran. He jumped over a desk and through some hallways to come out on the other side of the building. Clint and Natasha were not that far behind in pursuit. As he ran through the back door, the man slammed right into Thor’s thick chest. He was unable to run away as the god grabbed his arms and held him tight. Iron Man was standing right next to him, threatening to blow his head off if he ran.

“Alejandro!” Clint announced when he caught up to black mailer. 

“So it can only be this guy?” Natasha asked. “We do not want to make a mistake here.”

“Oh, it's him all right. He was my guard. He had to follow me on missions or to a John's house with my tracker or my collar would go off and shock me. He is the only person that was present when those other pictures were taken.”

“What is this,” Alejandro started to yell. “I’ve done nothing wrong. Let me go.”

“Nothing wrong?” exclaimed Thor. “You have gone out of your way to diminish the glory of a true warrior. You extorted money from those with more worth than you. You are a thief and a coward.”

“I did no such thing. You have no proof of anything you just said.” The man in Thor's arms started to tremble.

“We’ll see about that.” Iron Man’s electronic voice announced before reaching into the man's back pocket for his wallet. He pulled out his bank card and scanned it. “This card is attached to the same one that some of the black mail was sent to.”

“That won’t hold up in a court of law. I only have a few thousand in there.”

“Money that wasn’t there yesterday.” Coulson announced as he calmly walked into the situation. 

“Still is only circumstantial evidence.” The man retorted weakly.

“We’ll try it anyways and I am sure that SHIELD will do everything in their power to make sure that you have a fair trial,” Coulson assured the man. It might be weird but Clint did love it when Coulson lied. He wondered for a second if there was going to be a new test subject for the R&D department or if this man will simply get to help out in their Siberian office. 

Later a group of SHIELD agents went through the apartment that Alejandro had listed on his driver's license. There was a folder full of compromising photos of Barton that Coulson made a point of looking at each and every one to understand the torture that his lover endured during his teenage years. Afterwards, the photos, a camera and a computer were taken to the incinerator at SHIELD and the agent stayed long enough to make sure that every piece of evidence was destroyed.

The Maria Stark Foundation started building orphanages. Tony used his extensive political capital and called in a lot of favors to convince the government to send the troubled youth to his organization instead of selling them on the free market. He also started to buy out contracts of young slaves, having them move into the orphanage as normal kids and freeing them the day they turned 18 with enough money and education to start a new life. There were even scholarships available for the kids who wished to enter college. 

The Avengers started a campaign to stop slavery. They managed to stop the childhood slave trade within a few years but it was difficult to convince a population that had seen a dramatic decline in violent crimes in the past few decades that owning humans was wrong. They didn’t stop though. It became one of their permanent missions that meant that they spent a lot of their free time talking to people, peaceably marching and making sure that anyone found abused had a chance to be freed.


End file.
